Celebrating 7 Years at Our Factory!
When we first started our business in Canada, it wasn’t nearly as glamorous as what you see today. The first batch of chocolate that we made was in ice cube trays, from pots and pans in our kitchen. We started from a dream, and Canadians made that a reality.
I still remember the rush to prepare for our first market. We had the whole family in the kitchen, steadily producing chocolate as fast as we physically could. The air was filled with excitement and hope, but also a tinge of nervousness; none of us knew how the community would react to our Syrian chocolate recipe. We figured it would be better to produce more chocolate than needed, and so we overprepared, or so we thought. In reality, we sold out within an hour of the market opening.
The next market we went to, we prepared twice as much chocolate ahead of time, thinking this would finally be the perfect amount. Again, we were wrong. The support for our brand was growing faster than we could have ever anticipated. The family kitchen was no longer enough, we needed a new plan. Since our religion prevented us from taking out loans with interest, we had to get creative. We went around to everyone we knew, seeking out an arrangement that would allow us to grow our brand.
The community stepped up. We received so much support from people from all different career paths and within a couple of months we had our first factory, a tiny shed outside of our family home that doubled as a production facility and a storefront. From all across the country, Canadians came to cheer us on and Peace by Chocolate continued to grow.
Our first storefront was perfect, it was everything we needed. We had a dedicated space to share our passion with Nova Scotians everywhere. Of course, we dreamt of one day becoming a national brand, but that felt like an idea that was decades away. Once again, we were so wrong. We continued to work hard to spread happiness, but Canadians worked even harder to share our story. We had so many visitors and so many requests from brands wanting to carry our products that we were still struggling to keep up with demand. After a little over a year in our first store, it was time for another change.
September 9th, 2017 was the day that we opened our large factory. On that day, I could feel my family starting to finally relax. Everything was about to change for the better, we finally made it. In the last 7 years, our factory has been expanded 3 times and now hires tens of wonderful and hardworking staff and is SQF certified. Each time, we were so happy to be able to employ more Nova Scotians and spread peace a little further across the world.
Seven years in, we've surpassed our wildest dreams. Peace by Chocolate is now a globally recognized brand, found in major chains and independent stores alike. But even more rewarding is our ability to give back. As of early 2024, we've raised over $600,000 for various causes through our Peace on Earth Society. We've supported Canadians impacted by natural disasters via the Red Cross, aided homeless youth through Phoenix Youth, and assisted countless others in need.
Thank you to everyone for being a part of our story. We’re proud to be Canadian, and even prouder yet to be Antigonishers. To say thank you for all you’ve done for us, we wanted to do something special for every one of you. For the entire day today, everything on the Peace by Chocolate website is 7% off, to celebrate 7 years since we opened our large factory. Just pick out anything you want to try from our website, and a discount will appear for you at checkout.
